Umamah Bakharia South Africans have recently been facing tough times – with economic turmoil, increased crime,...
Political (opinion) Articles
Russia Launches Iranian Satellite Amid Ukraine War Concerns
By Neelam Rahim An Iranian satellite launched by Russia blasted off Kazakhstan early on Tuesday. It went into orbit...
10 Years Since Marikana, Has Anything Changed?
Ten years ago, the country and the world were stunned when a wage strike in Marikana turned deadly, leading to the...
Budget Speech Has ‘Unmet Expectation’
By Umamah Bakharia Post Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the health care systems and policies still face uncertainties. Program manager for health systems and policy at the WITS university, Russell Rensburg expresses his views...
[LISTEN] When Political Parties Blame Everything Except Themselves
Ebrahim Deen On Monday, 1 November 2021,South Africans elected over 10 000 candidates to run the country’s 270 local municipalities, and over 5000 wards and councils, in a process which was slow at best. While the vote was largely free, the Independent Electoral...
[LISTEN] Assange’s Extradition Appealed and the Double Standards of Whistleblowing Advocacy
Ebrahim Deen Lawyers from the United States this week appealed a January 4 decision declining the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julien Assange to the US from the UK. Assange faces 18 charges under the espionage act in the US, for leaking thousands of classified...
Nivedita Menon: Explains India’s Hindu right-wing hate of the Urdu language
By Umamah Bakharia 28:10:2021 Hindu nationalist groups argue that Urdu is a ‘Muslim’ language after clothing brand ‘FabIndia’ uses an Urdu word for a Diwali advertisement. The ad reads “Jashn-e-Rivaaz”. “Jashn” in Urdu means a celebration while “Riwaaz”, which is...
Who should we vote for?
Mumtaz Moosa Saley 26:10:2021 The elections are just a stone's throw away, with many parties are campaigning hard to ensure a seat in their respective municipalities. In the ward I live in, Ward 73, I only know of two candidates in the running. There has been no list...
[LISTEN] Manifesto Launches – Same Issues, Different Solutions
Staff Writer Electioneering for the 1 November 2021 local government elections kicked into gear this weekend with the two largest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), launching their manifestoes. The DA’s was virtual,...
Constitutional Court’s Afrikaans ruling in Support of Afriforum: It’s About the Process Not Necessarily the Policy
Ebrahim Deen The constitutional court’s September 22 ruling upholding a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision that the University of South Africa’s 2016 language policy was unconstitutional, is substantively different to other decisions in support of the University...
Intercepted migrant numbers double, but still low when compared to previous figures
By Ebrahim Deen 22:09:2021 Over the past week, two vessels rescued over 190 migrants off the Libyan coast en route to Italy, with dozens more reportedly drowning. The International Organisation for Migration reports that more than 24 thousand migrants have been...
[LISTEN] Behind the Attempted Coup in Sudan
Ebrahim Deen Authorities in Sudan on Tuesday announced the thwarting of a coup attempt from what it called former Omar Al Bashir loyalists. Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok argued that, “For the first time, people involved in the attempt were arrested… They are being...